It was announced on SL Benfica's website on January 16, 2015 that they will no longer be looking to signing any more new players for the remainder of the 2014/15 season. This news came one day after signing 19 year-old Hertha Berlin midfielder Hany Mukhtar. What SL Benfica did not emphasize on their website was that they are still entertaining the possibility of selling SL Benfica players until the end of the January transfer window.
It was announced this afternoon that 20 year-old midfielder Bernardo Silva was bought for approximately 16M to his loaned club AS Monaco. Bernardo Silva has been a Benfica player since the age of 8. Some may call it a good opportunity for Bernardo Silva, others call it good business.
Although Ligue 1 has big budgeted teams like AS Monaco, and PSG and such stars as Cavani, David Luiz, Berbatov and others to some soccer pundits it may be a step up from the Liga Portuguesa but according to the latest UEFA coefficients Portugal and it's league is ranked 5th place and closer to 4th whereas France and it's league is ranked 6th closer to 7th. In regards to club coefficient Benfica ranks 3rd whereas AS Monaco is 74th. AS Monaco may be ranked by a rich owner but Benfica is still the most supported club in the world with more registered supporters then any other team in the world. To say that Bernardo Silva went to AS Monaco as a step up from Portugal is preposterous. Although Benfica had a poor UEFA campaign this season, they are annual participants with 10 UEFA Cup Finals and 2 back-to-back Champions League. The argument that Bernardo may have joined AS Monaco to play Champions League Soccer is irrelevant since he would of played in next year's campaign. Overall Bernardo Silva did not join AS Monaco to improve his career. Bernardo Silva was loaned out to AS Monaco from SL Benfica as the beginning of this season with an option to buy. AS Monaco saw Bernardo's raw talent who has often been compared to the likes of Rui Costa and they pursued their option to buy.
Bernardo Silva spent most of his Benfica senior career playing for Benfica's B squad. He debuted in Benfica B team's 2013/14 season coming on as a sub in the 62" for Rojas in a scoreless result against C.D Trofense. He went on to become one of the B Team's most successful and talked about players. He appeared in 38 matches and scored 8 goals. On October 19, 2013 he was given the opportunity to play 10 minutes in the Portuguese Cup game against Cinfães. Benfica won this game 1-0. Bernardo Silva won several awards in Portugal including; "Player Of The Month" and was named the "2013/14 Breakthrough Player Of The Year" in the Segunda Liga. Bernardo Silva has often represented Portugal in the Under 19 and Under 21 competitions. He will most likely be called up to Portugal's senior team by the time Euro 2016 and World Cup 2018 come along.
It is no doubt that Bernardo Silva loves his boyhood team of Benfica. Anyone who follows him on social media knows that he loves Benfica. On the weekend of December 14, 2014 Bernardo tweeted about not only his first ever goal scored as a player for AS Monaco but seemed just as ecstatic to tweet about Benfica's impressive 2-0 away win against FC Porto a win which seems to happen once every few years. Just like the players he grew up watching such as Rui Costa, Nuno Gomes, Simao Sabrosa and many others who have come and gone in the past, Bernardo Silva may very well return to his boyhood team sooner rather then later.
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